Caster



W. F. HEROLD.

' CAST'ER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4, 1921.

1,418,711. I PatentedJune 6,1922.

INVENTO} m F fi m,

. ATTORNEY WALTER n; nnaonn; or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO. THE BASSIGK 001v:-

IPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT,

A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

(EASTER.

IAHSQFLL Specification 01' Letters Patent.

Patented June 6,1922.

' Application-filedAug'ust @1921. Serial'No. 489,686.

To all whom it may-concern: I

Be it known that LIWALTER F. HEROLD, a citizen of'the United States,and a resident of- Newarlnin the county of Essex and. State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and. useful Improvementsv in Casters, of which the following is a Sp8ClfiCat1OIL- The invent-ion'relatee to casters, andparticularly to casters intended. for use wlth furniture. having. hollow tapered legs... An object ofv the invention is the provislon. of a caster constructionin which a retaining frame is arranged to firmly engage within the interior of a tapered leg, to. hold the caster in upright posit-ion at alltimes, even when usedv witha leg having a. considerable taper from' front to back. and from side to side.

I accomplish this result by. the provision of a frame, preferably of spring metal, haying side arms which are bent or twisted'in such a manner that thetop transverse por tionof the frame may be positionedto extend diagonally across the interiorof the leg, while the bottom. edges of the arms will engage against the interior of the leg. adjacent the bottom thereof. With such an arrangement the transverse top portionof the frame, preferably rectangular, may be inserted through a rectangular opening at the bottom of the leg, and the frame turned about its axis as it is pushed up, until it comes toits final. position in which thetop portion extends diagonally across the-opening, with all four corners engaging the sidesof. the opening,iwhile side 'edgesof the arms may engage opposite walls throughout their length:

Other objects ofthe invention comprise the provision ofv improved details of construction and combinations of parts, as will appear more fully in the accompanying specification, and be partlcularly pointed out in the'appended claims- In order that the invention may be more clearlyunderstood attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application and illustrating, by Way of example, one embodiment of: the invention. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents. aside elevationof a caster. comprising the/invention;

Fig.2 is a front elevation oflthesame;

Eig. .3. is aetopplan viewof the same;

Fig. 4 is a side elevationof the caster as the same is positioned at the beginning of its insertion into a tapered furniture leg, the leg; being partly shovvn in cross sectiongj Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Fig.4;

Fig. 6 isa View similart'o-that shown in Fig. 4, the casterbeing fully inserted into the furnitureleg, and 7 Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77 of Fig. 6.

Referringto-the drawings, the caster may comprise the usual" horn l carrying a caster wheel 2, or the like. Inthe form of construction illustrated the pintle 3'extends'upwardly from the top transverse portion of horn 1, the leg supporting plate 4 being positioned in rotatable position on a-shoulder 5 0m p ntle 3- above horn-1;, the plate 4:? being providedvvitha central opening therethrough through which the pintle extends. Plate 4 is preferably provided withv upturned flanges 6 at or adjacent toits edges. 7 The spring frame,.or more broadly speak- 1ng, the frame or member by. which the caster is retained. in. position when" inserted in a furniture leg,. is a frame, preferably formed ofspring metal and having a transverse top. portion 7 and arms 8, 8, at the sides. In the form of construction shownthe transverse topportion. 7 of. the frameis provided with a centralopening therethrough through which pintle 3 extends, the. upper portion of thepintlevbeing upset, as indicated at 9, above the top portion 7 of the frame, so as to preventtheframe 'from' slip- ,ping'ofi' of theupper end of the pintle.

The present inventionconsists chiefly in the form of theframe referred to'and it is .not essential tothe inventionthat theframe should be used in connectionwith apintle in the manner indicated, or that any partic- "ular form of member should be used for centering. the frame a and retaining the same formed from an integral strip of metal the side edges of which are parallel with each other.

The side arms 8 of the frame are bent or twisted in such a manner that the lower edges thereof are positioned in planes which extend at angles to the upper edges of the arms, the upper edges of the arms referred to being the side edges 10, 10, of the top portion 7 of the spring frame, this top portion preferably being approximately rectangular, as shown. The arms 8 are bent or twisted in such a manner that the lower edges thereof may contact against the inner surfaces of flanges 6 while the upper edges of the arms, that is the edges 10, 10, of the top portion 7 of the spring frame, extend at angles, which may be approximately angles of degrees, to the planes in which the flanges 6 engaged by the lower ends of the arms extend.

To produce the desired effect the arms 8 are preferably bent or twisted in what is in effect a spiral curve, that is the arms 8 may be bent to give the same a form similar to that of the flutings of a spiral drill.

With such a construction the caster may be inserted within a tapered furniture leg, the interior of which is of rectangular section, in the manner indicated in Figs. 4; and 5. The lower end of the tapered leg 11 having a rectangular opening at the bottom somewhat larger in each direction than the top portion 7 of the spring frame, the caster is inserted within the leg with the side edges of top portion 7 of the spring frame parallel to the side walls of the leg. As the caster is pushed upwardly into the leg it will be turned somewhat about its axis, as if it were a screw being screwed into a threaded opening, this turning motion being necessary, on account of the inclination of arms 8, to enable the spring frame to be pushed up into the opening.

When the caster has been pushed all the way into its operative position, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the four corners 12 of the top portlon 7 of the spring frame will engage against the four side walls of the in terior of the leg while the lower edges 13, 13, of the side arms 8 engage against opposite interior walls of the furniture leg adjacent the bottom thereof, the furniture leg then resting on plate 4 with flanges 6 of plate 4 extending around the lower end portions of the leg.

When the caster is thus positioned it will be firmly held in place by the engagement of the four upper corners of the spring frame within the leg, by the engagement of the lower edges 13 within the leg and also by, the engagement of side edges 14 of arms 8, from top to bottom thereof, with the correspondinginterior surfaces of the leg. It will be noted that a plane may be extended through and parallel with one of the lower edges 13 of an arm 8, this plane extending through the corner 12 of top portion 7 above the same and that this plane will include the side edge M of the arm 8 referred to. That is to say, a plane in which the lower edge 13 and the upwardly extending side edge 14 are both included or positioned, will be tangential to a diagonal ofthe top portion 7 of the frame.

The distance from side to side within the leg at the point at which corners 12 of top portion 7 of the frame engage is, of course, greater than the distance from side to side across the opening at the bottom of the leg through which the spring frame 8 was inserted, and it would be impossible to cause the top portion 7 of the frame to enter the opening at the bottom of the leg unless the frame were positioned as stated with its edges more or less parallel to the sides of the opening, the caster being turned about its axis as it is pushed up into position. It will be obvious that the construction described gives a firmbearing for the caster under various conditions of use even when the leg is one having a considerable taper.

It should be understood that the'invention is not limited strictly to the details of construction described but is as broad as is indi' cated by the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate, a frame comprising a transverse top portion and arms at opposite sides thereof, and means for holding said frame above said plate, said arms comprising spirallybent metal strips.

2. In a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate, a frame comprising a transverse top portion and arms at opposite sides thereof, and means for holding said frame above said plate, said frame comprising a metal strip the transverse portion of which is rectangular, while the arms are twisted to position the lower edges thereof in planes which extend at angles to the upper edges thereof.

3. In a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate, a frame comprising a transverse top portion and arms at opposite sides thereof, and means for holding said frame above said plate, said top portion being rectangular and said arms being so bent that a plane extending through the lower edge of either arm and including a side edge of the arm will be tangential to a circle the diameter of which is a diagonal of said top portion.

4:. In a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate, a frame comprising a transverse top portion and arms at opposite sides thereof, and means for holding said frame above said plate, said top portion being rectangular and said arms being 130 a circle the diameter of which is V bent outwardly and laterally in such a manner that opposite corners of said top portion will be adapted to engage against opposite interior walls of a hollow leg, while the lower edges of said arms engage against lower portions of the same walls.

5. In a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate, a frame comprising a transverse top portion and arms at opposite sides thereof, and means for holding said frame above said plate, said top portion being approximately rectangular and said arms being so arranged as to permit the frame to be turned as it is pushed up within a tapered hollow leg of rectangular section, until the corners-of said top portion engage the interior walls of the leg, said arms being adapted to engage against interior walls of the leg at points below those enga ed by said corners.

6. n a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate, a vertical spring-frame retaining member extending centrally from said plate and a spring frame comprising a transverse top portion and arms at opposite sides thereof, said frame being retained in position by said vertical member, and said arms being twisted to position the lower edges thereof in planes which extend at an gles to the upper edges thereof.

In a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate having upturned flanges at its edges, a vertical spring-frame retaining member extending centrally from said plate and a spring frame comprising a transverse top portion and arms at opposite sides thereof, said frame being retained in position by said vertical member, and said arms being twisted so that the lower edges thereof will be parallel to and engage against the inner surfaces of opposite flanges of said plate, when the frame is not inserted in a leg, While the edges of said top portion will be inclined at angles to the planes of said flanges.

8. In a caster, the combination of a leg supporting plate having a central opening therethrough, a pintle extending upwardly through said opening, and a spring frame having a transverse top portion with arms at opposite sides thereof, said top portion having an opening through which said pintle extends, and said arms being twisted to position the lower edges thereof in planes which extend at angles to the upper edges thereof.

9. In a caster, the combination of avertical spring-frame-retaining member and a spring frame comprising a transverse to portion and arms at opposite sides thereo said frame being retained in position by said vertical member, and said arms being twisted to position the lower edges thereof in planes which extend at angles to the up per edges thereof.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Conn., this lst day of August, A. D. 1921.

WALTER F. HEROLD. 

